We Cannot Remain Children Forever

When we are children, our parents protect us from danger. They guide us through decisions we don’t understand. They even make decisions for us we are unable to comprehend. In every way our parents shape us. Eventually we must grow up. We can’t remain children forever.

When we are in first grade, we learn basic math and grammar skills. If we never progress past the first grade, life becomes a challenge. You simply cannot ‘make it’ through modern life without better than a first-grade education. We can’t remain children forever.

In today’s reading for the Feast of Saint Kyriaki, Saint Paul reminds us that children live under guardianship until they are old enough to live on their own. What is true physically is often true spiritually. We can’t spiritually remain children forever.

Brethren, before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Galatians 3:23-29; 4:1-5

If you grew up Orthodox, chances are good that you attended Sunday School. IF, and that is a big IF, you had perfect attendance, that means you attended on average 20 hours of religious education each year, and that is ONLY if you had perfect attendance.

That is equivalent to just one month of elementary school. Transfer that across twelve years and it is barely a second-grade education. By any standards, a second-grade education is practically worthless in the modern world. So, why is it sufficient in our spiritual life?

Here’s my point today. As a fan of Be Transfigured you already know I don’t believe Orthodoxy to be intellectual. Orthodoxy is a lived experience, but that doesn’t mean learning is out the door. I’m not even really talking about learning. I’m talking about growing up.

I can pretty much guarantee that we will not be tested on the names of the Patriarchs in front of the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Patriarchs are not unimportant. We learn about them to be inspired to grow up in our faith. We learn to mature as Christians by learning their story.

No matter how long you have been Orthodox, or even if you are not yet Orthodox, one thing should be clear from today’s reading from Saint Paul. We all must mature in our faith. We all must learn to live as spiritual adults, honoring the inheritance we were given by God.

Christ adopted us as His children. Now is the time for us to grow into the spiritually mature Orthodox Christians we are destined to be. We are all destined to be God’s children, His offspring, His heirs. We can’t remain children forever. How do we grow?

The way of life of the Church is how we grow. A life of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, reading the Scriptures, and living the sacramental life of the Church, is how we grow in Christ. Sure, reading a blog here and there might help, but blogs are not the Scriptures.

Watching the Divine Liturgy on YouTube is better than sleeping all day on Sunday, but YouTube is not the same as being inside the Church in the physical presence of God. You can’t receive Holy Communion through your computer screen.

The only way to grow into mature Orthodox Christians is for fully embrace the daily life of the Church. That is more than Sundays only. It also doesn’t mean that we must be inside the Church building every day. There should be no separation between our Orthodoxy and life.

I invite you today to take an inventory of your daily routine. Ask yourself what conflicts with Orthodoxy. Ask yourself if you are still living as a child in a grownup world. Challenge yourself. When was the last time you ‘took seriously’ your Orthodox life.

You can’t remain a child forever.